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#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows how to#
#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows for mac#
#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows mac os#
#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows update#
#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows windows#

Find the name of the drive in the left side of the Utilities window and select it. Start the Disk Utility, which is located under Applications > Utilities. Connect the external drive or the USB drive to the Mac. Disk utility - the MacOS utility application can help you with this. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another.Īll is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your Mac. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them.

#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows mac os#

Keep in mind that Mac OS can generally read other file formats, but for the best performance and to create a bootable disk, formatting exclusively for your Mac based on its version is required.įormatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. In a few simple steps you are ready to go and can save your back-up files to the external drive, keeping your information safe and giving you peace of mind. Reformatting an external hard drive for use with Mac OS is not as difficult as it might seem.

#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows for mac#

Part 2: Format External Hard Drive for Mac with Disk Utility Luckily, there are third-party tools to help you do so. NTFS: As the default file system in Windows, it can only read by Mac OS and writing to it is not available.

#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows windows#

Nevertheless, this older file system is limited to no more than 4GB and there might be security issue and disk errors.ĮxFAT: It is similar to ExFAT which can be read by both Windows and Mac, but it can store more than 4GB files. It enables you to regularly share files with your friends. MS-DOS FAT (aka FAT32): In addition to Mac, it can also be written and read by Linux and Windows. You can encrypt it so that no one can access the contents on your drive. Mac OS Extended (encrypted) would be an ideal option if you probably carry your laptop or external drive here and there.

#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows update#

Mac OS Extended (Journaled/HFS+): If you didn't update your Mac OS to High Sierra, the default file system on your Mac shoule be Mac OS Extended. What's more, it is compatible with SSD and flash storage devices only. However, it won't be readable and usable on machines that are not running Mac High Sierra, Windows or Linux PCs. Which one is right for your circumstance? We'll describe them here, and you'll be able to make your choice after reading the details.ĪPFS: This is the default file system in Macs with High Sierra. There are a few file formats you can use, but it depends on the purpose you want to use the drive for. The most important, you should decide which format to use. The USB Flash Drive will now begin formatting, which may take up to a minute or so.Part 1: Which File Format You Should Choose?īefore you begin formatting the drive, there are a few things to do.

Click the drop down box for for format, and select "MS-DOS (FAT)".

An easy way to make sure you are selecting the correct drive and not formatting and deleting on the wrong drive, is to unplug and then re-insert the USB Flash into the computer when "Disk Utility" is open, and watching for which drive disappears and then reappears, and selecting that one. There may be other drives listed, depending on how many drives are installed in your computer, or if you have other drives plugged into it.

You should see the USB Flash Drive listed as an external drive, on the left hand side of the window.

#Reformatting flash drive mac for ma and windows how to#

Instructions on how to format a USB Flash Drive into FAT32(MS-DOS FAT) in MacOS: The USB Flash Drive will now begin formatting, which may take up to a minute or so. Click the "Erase" button on the right-bottom of the window.Click the drop down box for for format, and select "exFAT".Type in what you would like the drive to be called in the "Name" field.

Click the button on the top middle of the window called, "Erase".

Open up the Application named "Disk Utility", by going to your Applications Folder -> and select Disk Utility, or simply press command+space and type "Disk Utility", then press the enter key.

Insert USB Flash drive into one of the USB ports on your Mac computer.

Instructions on how to format a USB Flash Drive into exFAT in MacOS: ( Google Drive works well to easily back up data) PLEASE BACKUP IMPORTANT DATA ELSEWHERE BEFORE PROCEEDING. **WARNING** THE PROCESS OF FORMATTING A USB DRIVE WILL PERMANENTLY ERASE ALL DATA ON THE ENTIRE USB FLASH DRIVE. In order to copy files to a USB Flash drive on a Mac computer, and then open them on an APU Classroom or Lab computer, (or vice versa) the Flash drive must be formatted in either exFAT, or FAT32(MS-DOS FAT). It's important to make sure that your USB Flash drive is configured into a file system format that is usable across multiple computer operating systems.